


Loaded Guns

by thecookiemomma



Series: Scion of the Merlin [2]
Category: Dresden Files - Jim Butcher, NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-23
Updated: 2011-07-23
Packaged: 2017-10-21 16:33:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/227286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecookiemomma/pseuds/thecookiemomma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony gets his stuff from Carlos, and starts preparing to work as a Wizard again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loaded Guns

With the ley lines powering the wards and comm-stones, things seemed to go apace at work. Tony struggled through a few things, getting used to the changes between the magical world and the plain-vanilla world he'd lived in for so many years under the geas. As he suspected, Abby was pissed that he couldn't come down to her lab, but when he explained that he was just trying to prevent explosions, she hopped up and down, and said she always knew there was something hinky about him, and moved on. She accepted his needs without a lot of fuss and would poke fun at him gently when she came up to deliver information.

 

Ducky had met a few 'Merlins' in his time at NCIS, so wasn't too surprised. He _was_ surprised to find out that Tony was Langtry's great-grandson, and that the old man was still alive. Strangely enough, they'd met briefly when Ducky was a younger man, and Tony listened to the story straight through before explaining the comm-stone to the old M. E. “It's powered by the ley lines underneath us, Ducky, so as long as you keep it away from technology, like over ….” He moved around, trying to find a small alcove to set the stone in. “Here, then you'll have no problem. The problem will be activating it. Now, since you're a normal, I mean... a non-Merlin, you'll have to work a little harder at it. It's just a matter of will and words for me. For you, just run your finger around it like so...” He showed him the motion, “and then you have to push. Don't _yell_ , but push with your mind. It'll take a little doing. Kind of like... kind of like pushing through your first week as an intern. Lotta hours, but you just have to keep going.” He grinned. “Call my name.” He whispered his full name into the man's ear. “Anthony Daniel Langtry DiNozzo.” He pulled back, and spoke up as he continued. “I know the Normal world doesn't care about Names, but a lot of the old superstitions are true when it comes to magic.” 

 

Ducky nodded, and smiled beatifically at him. “Thank you for the honor of knowing your Name, Anthony. I shall not misuse it. Now, one small point of protocol. Must I use this contraption myself, or am I allowed to instruct Mister Palmer in its use?” 

 

Tony thought for a few minutes. “For now, Ducky, let's just keep it to the three of us. Gibbs, you and me. If we need to bring a few more people in, we will, but at this point, I'd like to keep it as close to the chest as possible. 

 

“Fair enough, Anthony. I do understand how – particular your _family_ can be.” He placed a slight emphasis on the word, letting Tony know that he'd heard the scuttlebutt, and was willing to play along with it. 

 

“Thanks, Duck. You're a prince among men.” Tony grinned, and let the man get on with his work. 

 

When he'd scaled the stairs back up to the bullpen, he automatically looked over to where Gibbs was working at his desk. “Everything figured out, DiNozzo?” 

 

“Yeah, Boss. I'll have to show you the other one here, soon. Shouldn't be that hard for you to do. But it will take a little practice.” Tony sat down, and started working through the folders on his desk. Since he couldn't use his computer, he had returned to working through the hard copies of files and forms. It was a pain in the ass, sometimes literally when he had a lot of forms to fill out, but there was a certain soothing rhythm to it that Tony had missed. Abby had gone through the trouble to play secretary for him, printing out his emails – at least the important ones – and replying as necessary. It worked. 

 

After a while, his old rotary phone rang, and he reached over to pick it up. “DiNozzo.” 

 

The man on the other side was from Security. “Got a 'Carlos Ramirez' here, says he's come to talk to you. He's got a big box of stuff, too.” 

 

“Could you have someone walk him up? The stairway, please, and then straight to my desk? I know it's a lot to ask, but ...” Tony winced. He hoped he wouldn't have a lot of practitioners walking through. The security guys would get tired of traipsing up the stairs awfully fast. 

 

There was a quiet sigh on the other end, and then, he could almost hear the nod. “I'll do it, Tony. It's about time for my break anyway, and I'll stop at the vending machine. If I walk him back down, then I can burn the calories to get a chocolate bar with my sandwich.” 

 

Tony laughed, and looked over to Gibbs, who was giving him one of his standard looks. He was asking who was on the phone. “Thanks, man. I'll even pay for your chocolate bar.” 

 

That got a hearty laugh. “Alright. I'll take that offer. We'll be up in a moment.” 

 

“I'll be waiting.” Tony grinned, returning the receiver to the cradle. 

 

“Who was that, Tony?” Gibbs asked, pulling his reading glasses down a couple of inches to look over them at him. 

 

“Jake down at security. Carlos is here.” Tony fairly bounced in his seat, waiting for his friend to arrive. 

  
“New boyfriend, Tony?” Ziva poked, looking up from her own report writing on the computer. 

 

“Nope. Just a good friend. Though, I wouldn't be too upset if he asked. But, Carlos is a little too strait-laced for me. Untouched.” Tony grinned, knowing he'd timed that comment perfectly. 

 

“ 'Mano, you spreadin' stories about me again, huh?” Tony stood up and enveloped the short, wiry Mexican man in his arms in a strong hug. 

 

“ 'Los! What'd you bring me?” He glanced down into the box to see what the Apprentices had scrounged up. “Besides. They aren't stories if they're true, dude. Then, they're just facts.” He grinned cheekily down at his friend, pulling him back to look at him better. “You're lookin' good. You doin' alright with the 'net, or do you need some help? I don't have a lot of time, but especially if you brought me my mom's pendant...” He released Carlos entirely, and looked down into the box. 

 

“Oh, I see how it is, Tonio. No love for me. You just want me for my box of goodies.” Carlos teased. “I think I can handle it alright for now. Dresden set it up pretty well. Maybe once every couplea months you can go out with me and check on the kids.” He shrugged. “Nice setup you got here. I bet it changed dramatically, huh?” 

 

“Yeah, but … feel it 'Los.” Tony gave him a minute to sense it, hoping he wouldn't have to open his Sight to get what he was getting at. 

 

“A Ley Line?” He spoke more softly, murmuring his words to keep them from Tony's coworkers. 

 

“Oh, yeah. A good one. I'm powering this,” he gestured toward the wards around his desk, “and three comm-stones.” He, too whispered his words. 

 

Gibbs cleared his throat. “Ya gonna introduce us, DiNozzo?” 

 

“Yes, Boss.” Tony flashed his winning smile again. “Carlos Ramirez, this is Ziva David, Timothy McGee, and my boss, second-B-bastard, Jethro Gibbs.” 

 

“Jethro, really?” Carlos spoke before thinking, and Tony grinned. 

 

“Yeah, really. Named after my dad's best friend, I think.” Gibbs said. He'd gotten used to that line, apparently. “You work with Tony's family?” Tony had shared the cover story with Carlos. 

 

“Yeah, I'm his direct supervisor, or at least until Luccio can get over here to get you the sword. You know she's workin' with someone now to make the new ones? They forge the swords, and she …” He gestured wildly with his hands. 

 

“Yeah, got it.” Tony grinned. Carlos was one of a kind. 

 

“Wait, Tony, you get to carry a sword?” Tim perked up. 

 

“Well, only in certain situations. I'll still have my Sig, and a few other things, but yeah.” Tony grinned and looked down into the box. “Did you bring the cloak, or do I have to wait for Luccio for that, too?” 

 

“It's in there, 'mano. It's spel – ” He stopped himself mid-word, switching to Latin. “ _It's spelled to all Hell and back, Tonio._ ” 

 

Tony replied in the same language. “ _I bet. They're getting even more ostrich-like since the mess and Dresden's death, aren't they? Glad there are no more Reds to call down revenge from the sky._ ”

 

“Ain't that the truth, 'mano, ain't that the truth.” Carlos slipped back into English. 

 

“Tony, you need to take him to the conference room? He can show you what he brought? You want me along?” Gibbs nodded toward the stairs.

 

“If you wanna, Boss.” He grinned over at Carlos again. “He's my 'plus-one'.” That made Tim choke. Ziva just looked confused. Carlos, however, was laughing uproariously. 

 

“DiNozzo...” Tony took in the warning tone of his Boss' voice, and didn't push the joke. 

 

“Yes, Boss. Shutting up now, Boss.” Tony grinned as Gibbs stood, and the three of them walked to the conference room. Carlos laughed the whole way. 

 

* * * 

When they got in the room, Tony immediately began setting the stuff out on the table, noting the labels on each. “Oh, nice touch. Labeled in Latin. Any of this gonna need clearance?” They'd discussed the limitations of the Merlin Agreements, and one of them was that if there were certain substances used for potions or spells, they had to be listed and filed on record with someone, in case something went wrong. 

 

“Yeah, most all of them, Tony. We got you the stuff that you wouldn't be able to buy for yourself here. Your _Abuelo_ kicked in a little, as did a few of the others. They know what big shoes you're stepping into.” Carlos pulled out a chair, and sprawled into it, his confidence oozing. “Speaking of your big shoes, you're gonna have to do two things for us. One is take on his apprentice, and the other is to safeguard something of his that I don't even want your _abuelo_ to know you have.” He gestured to a small backpack in the bottom of the box. “The contents of that bag are top secret, Tony. If something weird happens, and Harry's just on an extended trip to the Nevernever, or if they kick 'im out up there, he'll need all this crap back. But you're the one we trust to use it right in the meantime.” 

 

“We? Who's we? And do I _have_ to take on his probie? She sounded like a bit of a pill.” Tony gave Gibbs a small glare when the older man started laughing. 

 

“Yeah. She needs to finish her training. She's gotten through a good portion of it, and she's excellent at the illusion stuff, but she needs a little more evocation, and you could stand to brush up on it yourself. Besides, she hasn't even started the second level divination stuff. She can do very basic tracking, but beyond that...” Carlos explained, and then finished with an offhanded shrug. “ 'We' is me, Harry's family – and no, I can't tell you who that is, Karrin Murphy with Chicago PD... that was his plus-one, Tonio, and well, the artifact himself. He had a big say in it.” 

 

Now, Tony was intrigued. “Huh.” He reached into the bag, and pulled out a human skull. “I heard rumors. Not from anybody over there, but just … around. You know how it is. Keep a nose to the magical community, even when you're living like a Normal.” He snorted, then looked down at the skull. 

 

“Do we need to take that to Duck, DiNozzo?” Gibbs was leaning forward, examining the skull. “Looks old. Does he need to sample it or something?” 

 

Tony laughed, especially when the eyes lit up orange, and the spirit inside the skull looked over at Gibbs. “Don't you dare!” Tony only laughed harder when Gibbs jumped. 

 

“What the _hell_ , Tony? Did that skull just talk to me?” He slid his chair back, and Tony was surprised not to see him making the sign for the evil eye or something. 

 

“Yeah, Boss. He just talked to you. What did Harry call him?” Tony looked over at Carlos for the answer. 

 

“He called him Bob. Really original, if you ask me. I'd have called him 'Carlito.'” He preened, and Tony laughed. 

 

“Yeah, Los. Like that's _real_ original.” Even Gibbs was grinning at that. Then Tony quoted a movie, which he was sure neither of his friends would get. “I'm _never_ calling it Bob. Who made _you_ the king of Bob?” 

 

True to form, both of them looked over at him, and he grinned. “Oh, come _on_. 'Titan AE', Boss. One of the first movies to mix standard animation with computerized three-d imagery. It's awesome. It's about this guy who lives in space and …” He was stopped by a firm slap to the back of his head. “Yes, Boss, thank you, Boss.” He looked down at the skull again. “Hey, Bob. I'm Tony. This is Gibbs. You can call him Gibbs, or you can call him Bossman. Or something like that.” 

 

“Nope. You're bossman. Maybe he can be Bossman's Boss.” Gibbs looked ready to give his first headslap to a skull. “Or, I could just call him Gibbs.” He sounded a little nervous. 

 

“Okay. What do you do?” Tony had heard that Dresden had a strange familiar, but nothing concrete about it. 

 

“I am a spirit of air and intellect. If it's been written about magical theory I can explain it, or if you tell me to remember something, or find it out... I can do that.” Bob sounded like he'd made this pitch before. 

 

“Yeah, Bob, but don't forget the other part. You have to be very specific about your requests. He can't see sunlight without the skull. He likes to grab a passing animal and take over, and has a tendency to cause...” He switched to Latin again. “ _Let's just say that he learned a few things from the Whites, and leave it there, huh, brother?_ ” 

 

Tony laughed. “That's one way to put it. So, limit his time, and his purview. What's he get out of it?” 

 

“Porn, Boss.” Tony's face colored at the mention of something like that in front of his boss. His very sexy, straight (as far as he knew) boss. “The more risque the better.” 

 

“Okay. I'll have McGoogle find you some good fanfiction then. I'm sure there's some stuff out there you haven't read.” Tony grinned, and Gibbs rolled his eyes. 

 

“Oh, I've heard about this fanfiction stuff. Harry never got me any because he didn't know about it. But it sounds so good.” Bob drew the last word out, and Tony's blush deepened. 

 

“That's enough of that, Bob.” Gibbs spoke up. “We've got work to do. If you can help us, all well and good. But you can't be seen by our coworkers. Only myself and Doctor Donald Mallard. We call him Ducky.” 

 

“That's cute. I see what you did there. Ducky. Mallard. That's cute.” Bob grinned as much as a human skull could, and Tony pondered what to do with him. 

 

“I suppose I could stick him in my drawer with some sheets of printed stuff, and pull him out when the probies aren't around? Or put him in my backpack... We'll figure it out.” He grinned, and put the air spirit back into the backpack. “What else ya brought me, 'Los?” 

 

“Lots of stuff. Look. Here's the ….” Eventually, bored with things he didn't understand, Gibbs wandered back into the bullpen, leaving the two wizards to sort out their mess of ingredients and arcane information. 


End file.
